The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-09-25
THE HISTORY OF OPIUM
Its Importation Into the
United States.
MARKED INCREASE IN ITS USE.
Some Interesting Facts and Figurea-
How the Drug is Chiefly Used
Surprising Statements.


stantIy increasing in the United States.
The increased Importation is surprising
almost startling, in view of the known
power of the drug and its deleterious eff
fects when incsutiously used. In no
country except China has its consump-
ton yet reached any extraordinary pro-
portions, nor become such an evil as to
attract any considerable degree Of public
attention. In China, however. its com
mon use is recognized as national evil.
China dates its excessive use of opium
to the latter part of the last century.
The opium trade of India, al that time
passed into the hands of the East India
Company, which, finding ready market
IN China. pushed the trade for all it was
worth. Shortly before the beginning of
the nineteenth century efforts of the
strongest kind were made to prevent the
use and importation of opium. For
smoking opium the punishment was
made punishment or death, but still the
amount consumed continued to grow
larger. III 1889 opium to the value of
$40 600 0C0 belonging to the English
company was destroyed. demand hav-
ing been previously made for the re-
moval of the English ships on which 1t
was kept stored. But the English con
tlnued to smuggle the drug in, outrages
were committed on both sides, and the
result was the opium war, which lasted
till 1912.
The Chinese government has con
tinued to demonstrate against the i'm
portation of opium from India ever
since, but without avail, and the impor-
tations rose from 055, 657 pounds to r.
Oil $50 pounds between 1850 and 1880
Il is now estimated that tho amount of
opium produced in Southwestern China
is two and a half times the quantity i'm
ported from India. In time. China will
produce all the opium it consumes.
Nine out of eighteen of its provinces
now produce the drug, and four-ffths of
the amount 1t consumes is now home
grown. This increase is in the face of
prohibiting edicts.
In the Uni ed States the amount of
crude opium imported in 1872 was 1S9,-
354 pounds; in 1880 243 211: in 1886,
All, 276. and in 1887, sos, 1858. The years
end June 80 The Increase of last year
is to be attributed chiefly to the state of
the market, the price having risen from
$3.50 a pound one year ago to $i.75 a
pound at present. This is still below
European prices, which indicates a
further advance. The crude opiums
imported into this country come ex lu-
sively from Turkey, Smyrna being
the place from which it is chiefly eX-
ported. The crop that has Just been
gathered there is estimated at 800, 400
pounds. The crop for five years succeed.
ing 1880 averaged more than three times
as much, the llghtest crop for thirteen
years past having been that of 1880,
when it was 504 600 pounds. The stock
at present in this country is estim at9d
at l68 900 pounds. The stock of Turkish
opium in the world is said to be S4O,O 900
pounds,
Our government has imposed a duty
of $40 pound upon smoking opium
since 1888. Prior to that date it was Sc
ImpOrtatiOns of smoking opium for DIFF
ferent years have been as follows: 1872,
1875 pounds; 1880, II 1875 pounds; 1886,
46 267 pounds, and 1887, 66 ,232 pounds.
The chief place of importation is San
Francisco. 1t will be seen that there
has been falling off in the amount i'm
ported since the duty of $40 pC1' !
was imposed. 1t is doubtful, how.
whether this is not made up by smI&
Cling.
There is no general demand for opium
for smoking, except among the Chinese,
in this country. Opium joints in this
city are now pretty generally closed by
the police against any but the Chinese,
who are free to go and come and smoke
the drug as much as they please. Opium
prepared for smoking comes from
China, where the right to prepare it is
sold for term of years by the govern
ment to the highest bidder.
1t is evident from the figures given
above as to the importation of crude
opium, that the consumption of the
drug has increased in this country
greatly in the last fifteen years. II is
used in the crude state, after having
been reduced to powder, the govern
ment not permitting the importation of
which is the active principle |
of the opium. 1t is chiefly used as NOR
phine, as laudanum and as paregoric. |
The fluid mixture of morphine, alcohol
and water is very commonly used in
this country by means of hypodermic
injections.
It is also taken in the form of pow
der, one-tenth of a grain being q fair
dose for an adult. Its equivalent would
be twenty five drops of laudanum. By
gradual increase in its use an extra
ordinary amount can finally be taken
per day. A physician of this city had a
patient, a man controlling several lines
of railroad, who was able to take
drachm and half (ninety grains) of
morphine, hypodermically, every day.
He was finally cured of the habit. The
same physician reports the case of
woman of wealth who took two quarts
day of whisky, laudanum and morphine.
and was able to conceal the fact from
her family.
The morphine habit generally origin
ates in physicians prescription. Once
contracted it can rarely be shaken off,
except by absolute physical restraint.
Its effect is first to produce exhiiaration.
Then comes the narcotic state, produc-
ing blissful languor, and finally sleep.
While under its influence the mind and
moral nature are to great degree IN
hinged. 1t is less injurious to those
employed in the open air than to those
following sedentary pursuits. Like
other stimulants, morphine, for time,
enables one to make great e1ertion with
but little rest or food, but in greater de-
gree than the other stimulants. A
druggist of this city reports the case of
man habituated to its use who de-